For You, My Dreary Dear
by Sora-M-Jigen
Summary: It was the one important event that had gone ignored over time and time again. Yet this year, it would not be ignored. It would be glorified with the greatest gift of all - the gift of love and the emotions that follow it so. Oneshot. Please R & R.


**I've been told that there's barely any Jack x Sally fics in the Nightmare Before Christmas fanfiction. Then again, I like Jack x Sally as a pair. ^^; Nonetheless, I haven't written Jack x Sally in a good while so here's hoping I didn't mess them up. ^^;**

**Jack, Sally, Dr. Finklestein, belong to Tim Burton**

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**For You, My Dreary Dear**

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It was the one important event that had gone ignored over time and time again. Yet this year, it would not be ignored. It would be glorified with the greatest gift of all - the gift of love and the emotions that follow it so.

Today was Sally's birthday, the day she was created. It was strange for her because she was the only citizen of Halloween Town to have a birthday in the afterlife. Most of the citizens had death days which was for the day they had tragically died. Nonetheless, Sally was created from leaves, decapitated useless limbs, string, hair, eyes, fabric, and other parts. She was a zombie in a sense only with a more human feel and without the bloodthirstiness. Sally was created on the first day of Autumn. She came with the very leaves that were stuffed into her body and was brought to life by a mere stroke of lightening.

Dr. Finklestein had celebrated the day that his experiment (aka Sally) was a success. He had created her to be his maid and chef; nothing more, nothing less. However, every year on her birthday, she was given a little present. Nothing too extravagant, nothing too petty .Sometimes it would be a new dress or a new apron or Every year after that, however, her birthday became ignored until it was forgotten entirely. This saddened Sally greatly to the point where it began to depress her and she began to wonder what life really was for her. Was it the same every day? Sneak out once a week or so by slipping Deadly Nightshade into her creator's soup only to acknowledge the dreadful walk back home? And the cleaning, the cooking...was this it?

No.

There was him.

The very skeleton whom she loved since she first laid eyes on him. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, the Master of Fright, Her Demon of Delight, the King of Halloween - and Sally's boyfriend. Sally remembered the first day she ever encountered the Pumpkin King. It was a normal day, Sally was looking out the window of her room at the town beneath her residence. There were very few people walking about as the sun was starting to set, casting an eerie soft yellow fading into tangerine across the cobblestone. Creepy shadows threw themselves to the ground as she could hear the soft trickling of the fountain. The gentle flow of the fountain was combined with the not so distant three person band, playing a smooth jazz piece that seemed to fit the mood of the oncoming night. Then amongst the sounds of water and music, faint footsteps were heard. Her eyes lit up at the sight of a lanky skeleton making his way across the square and sitting on the edge of the fountain. Smiling some at the sight of the skeleton, she watched him place his elbows on his knees, and bring his knuckles to his lower jaw. From the looks of it, he was in deep thought. What of, Sally had no idea but she felt her heart melt a bit at the sight of him. He was handsome, brave, bold, dashing, creative, unique- she ducked down fast. Jack had looked over, possibly with the suspicion that he was being watched by an unknown strange but nonetheless they were gone now. Sally had turned a deep red and giggled a bit to herself.

Now she was dating the Pumpkin King. They had been going steady for a few years or so, those days were possibly the best days that any ragdoll could have. Jack was always thinking of new ways to shower Sally with romance. Sally's favorite was the night he took her to the Spiral Hill where they had a picnic under the moon and watched the ghosts fly and dance over their heads. It was something she hadn't seen before and it delighted it with every passing moment. It was a shame that night had to end though, oh well, today was her birthday, and she was sure Jack had something romantic up his sleeve.

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By nightfall, Sally's birthday had become a deathly beautiful nightmare of a dream. Jack had taken her out to lunch and prepared dinner for her at his estate. During dinner, however, Jack had told Sally to go to the graveyard for her final birthday surprise. It made her excited and yet she didn't rush through the meal nor did she quicken her actions just so she could get to the surprise sooner. Sally took the time to enjoy her moments with Jack and the deathly delicious meal he made her. They spent most of the day out and about, buying anything that Sally desired - which wasn't much. Sally didn't ask for anything really but Jack spoiled her anyway with clothing and anything she set her eyes on. Yet Jack had already bought her something that would make her day.

After dinner, Sally did as she was asked and ventured into the graveyard. Once she entered, the scene became beautiful and alive despite its' grave setting. Near almost all of the graves was a jack o lantern lit up and beaming with candle light. The little lights brought an eerie cheer to the tombstones behind them as it made Sally smile some. The candle light made the old tombstones look new, as if they emerged from the ground in all their grim glory. Yet none of those candle lights could compare to the moonlight covering the graveyard in a sea of luminous glorious light. It made the ground a softer tone of gray and the Spiral Hill appear to be out of a dark dream. The iron wrought poles that poked out from the weary stony borders seemed to shine as if they had been polished. Even the stones themselves seem to bear no cracks or signs of crumbling at any minute. Stunned by the newfound beauty of the graveyard, Sally slowly crept up to one of the iron wrought poles only to find a piece of parchment attached to one as it held on for dear life while a passing breeze came by.

Grabbing the parchment, Sally read the letter as it was obviously written in Jack's handwriting. The letter told her to wait for him at the top of the Spiral Hill. Smiling some, she was still enchanted by the appearance of the Spiral Hill that was cloaked in the moonlight. She held the paper as if it was a child and delicately held it close to her heart with her stitched hands. Sally carefully stepped over the stony border and slowly walked up to the top of the Spiral Hill. Standing at the top, she found no tangible objects whatsoever let alone anything of the sort. The wind blew gently as she felt it in her red hair, causing her to smile. However, the paper flew from her hand and attempted to return to its' iron wrought pole. Not wanting to lose the letter, Sally turned around to chase after the piece of paper only to stop - Jack was at the stony border. Sally felt her heart skip a beat as she watched him.

"My dearest friend," he spoke in a casual soft tone that sent her heart into a whirl and memories into her mind. Oh God. This was like the night he attempted to take over Christmas and in the end he sang to her...just as he was doing now.

"_If you don't mind  
I'd like to join you  
by your side  
Where we can gaze into the stars."_Jack kept singing as he gradually started to get closer to Sally. Sally smiled as she remembered the long night of worrying and being held captive by Oogie Boogie only to result in a beautiful romance of her and Jack. She also remembered the lyrics as she watched him move with the elegance of a spider towards her figure. He hoped that she had enjoyed her day even though it was about to get a million times better.

"_And sit together  
now and forever  
for it is plain  
as anyone can see  
we're simply meant to be"_By now Jack had reached Sally but instead of reaching for her hands, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a blood red box. Upon opening it, there was a ghostly white gold band that shimmered miraculously in the moonlight. On the ring were indentations of stars and moons with amber stones, garnets, and diamonds as white as ghosts. In the center of the ring was a giant amber stone to resemble the very pumpkin sun that shone throughout the day. Her eyes widened as she looked up at Jack as if to ask if the ring was for her. Nodding, Jack gave a skeletal smile as he watched become even more stunned by the piece of jewelry.

"Sally, would you do the honor of being my Pumpkin Queen and my love for all afterlife and beyond," Jack spoke in a gentle romantic tone as he watched tears form at the corners of her eyes. She was unable to speak from the shock of it all as she nodded quickly. Her smile widened as she buried her face, trying to hide her tears as she muffled out words that were inaudible to Jack. Sally had hoped that he could understand what she was trying to say. What she was trying to tell him was that she wanted to be with him until the end of time and even beyond that. What she was trying to say was that she loved him and would marry him any day. Although Jack didn't understand her words he knew what she was trying to tell him. Smiling, Jack took her delicate left hand and slowly placed the ring on her ring finger.

Sally's eyes came in contact with the ring as she smiled. Jack knew she would say yes in a heartbeat as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his bony chest. He felt the tears against his chest and knew they were tears of pure joy. Jack buried his one bony hand into her long red hair and stroked it gently to comfort her. He placed his other hand on her back and carefully pulled her tiny frame to his lanky figure. Sally allowed him to do so as they both knew the answer to the proposal.


End file.
